Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust

Shrewsbury Women & Children’s Centre

Unifying women’s & children’s services

This new build was a £30 million project merging the children’s and women’s services from Shrewsbury into Telford. One of the challenges of the design was to accommodate both elderly women and young children within the same centre.

Two themes, one identity

In the atrium and across the women’s services, we placed elegant drawings of dogwood and cherry, inspired by what we saw in the gardens around the hospital.

In the children’s department, we suffused the space with images of ducklings, otters and egrets found in British waterways.

The two styles of art sit happily alongside each other, giving a common identity to the whole space whilst respecting the individuality of each clinical service. In the more social, public spaces, the flora and fauna depict joyful movement and characterization. In other areas requiring a calmer mood, the drawings are less busy, featuring fewer lines and less action.

Wayfinding through pictures, words & signs

Across the centre, we placed artwork strategically, in order to aid wayfinding and orientation. We also designed a signage scheme that would compliment the pictures - allowing people to navigate using pictures or words as they choose.